Curriculum Vitae

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Last updated April 2026

Research Areas

  • Philosophy of Mind & Cognitive Science
  • Philosophy of AI
  • Social Epistemology
  • Feminist Philosophy

Education

City University of New York (CUNY Baccalaureate) Expected Spring 2026

Bachelor of Arts, Mind, Gender, and Artificial Intelligence

GPA: 3.92

Independent Thesis: 4E/DST Models of Gender Identity

Advisors: Dr. Daniel Harris (Philosophy) & Dr. Raj Korpan (Computer Science)

Graduate Coursework (CUNY Graduate Center):

  • Representations, Attitudes, & Persuasion — Eric Mandelbaum (Fall 2025)
  • Group Minds — Muhammad Ali Khalidi (Spring 2026)
Texas State University 2015

Bachelor of Arts, Computer Science— Summa Cum Laude

Minor in Philosophy

Fellowships & Honors

  • CUNY Pipeline Fellowship CUNY Graduate Center, 2025–2026
  • Thomas W. Smith Academic Excellence Fellowship CUNY Baccalaureate, 2025–2026
  • The Memorial Scholarship CUNY Baccalaureate, Spring 2025
  • Diane B. Gibson Memorial Fund Award CUNY Baccalaureate, Fall 2025

Research Experience

Research Fellow, CUNY Pipeline Program July 2025–Present

CUNY Graduate Center

  • Selected for competitive doctoral preparation fellowship
  • Developing philosophy research proposal on embodied cognition and gender identity
  • Presenting capstone research at CUNY Pipeline Symposium (May 2026)
Researcher & Lead Architect, Queer Robot Companion Project June 2025–Present

TIER Robotics Lab, Hunter College

  • Led technical architecture and ethical design of a queer-affirming robot companion
  • Co-authored peer-reviewed full paper accepted to HRI 2026
  • First author on Interactivity demo accepted to HRI 2026
Undergraduate Researcher Fall 2014

Department of Computer Science, Texas State University

  • Designed initial experimental protocol and detection algorithm to correlate heart rate variability with sleep onset under Dr. Xiao Chen
  • Provided proof-of-concept supporting later work published in IEEE MASS 2015

Teaching Experience

Discussion Section Leader, Intro to Women & Gender Studies Fall 2024

Hunter College

  • Led weekly small-group discussion section for first-year students
  • Prepared assigned readings, facilitated discussion, and guided structured activities

Industry Experience

Senior Software Engineer 2021–2023

Apple

  • Implemented UI/UX improvements for macOS/iOS Music
  • Core accessibility features on Apple TV
Senior Software Engineer 2017–2021

Reddit

  • Led front page feed re-architecture
  • Designed and implemented first analytics and unit test frameworks

Publications

Refereed Conference Proceedings

  • Not the Intended User: Queer Perspectives on Identity, Risk, and Trust in Robot Companions

    Nam, K., Yee, J., Jinnat, R.A., Rigual, K., Thylane, A., Korpan, R.

    Proceedings of the 2026 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI '26). Edinburgh, UK.

    Acceptance Rate: 23.2%

Interactivity Demos

  • Pax: A Queer-Affirming Robot Companion for the Home

    Thylane, A., Foulen, D., Rigual, K., Jinnat, R.A., Nam, K., Yee, J., Korpan, R.

    ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI '26), Interactivity Track. Edinburgh, UK. March 2026.

Manuscripts in Preparation

  • Gender Identity as Regulatory Self-Model

Presentations

  • Unequal Costs of Disbelief: Bridging Minority Stress and Epistemic Injustice

    Society for Philosophy and Psychology (SPP), Johns Hopkins University

    June 2026

  • Modeling Gender Identity as a Metastable Process: A 4E Cognition Framework

    CUNY Pipeline Symposium, The Graduate Center, CUNY

    May 2026

  • Pax: A Queer-Affirming Robot Companion System

    Hunter College Humanity and Technology Series

    December 2025

  • Can AI Have Gender? A 4E Cognition Approach to Gender Identity

    • Poster,CUNY Undergraduate Research Conference May 2025
    • Oral,Hunter College Undergraduate Research Conference April 2025

Service & Engagement

  • Invited Panelist, Women Speak Pride Hetrick-Martin Institute,March 2025
  • Guest Speaker, Safe Schools Program PFLAG NYC,2024–2025
  • Founder & Head Organizer, Queer Tech Professionals & Innovators 2021–2023